Blog Posts From No Vacancy: Maximizing ROI Tagged With maximizinghttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy
Mon, 26 Aug 2013 21:26:29 GMTJive Engage 7.0.0.1 (http://jivesoftware.com/products/)2013-08-26T21:26:29ZMore Vacation Homes in Your Area = Higher ROI For YOU!https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/08/26/more-vacation-homes-in-your-area-higher-roi-for-you
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:a501bd88-d85a-45c3-b3d1-63d0c4be34af] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><em>"A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats" &#8211; John F. Kennedy</em></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><table border="2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="jiveBorder" height="284" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; background-color: #7e8fd2; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #000000; width: 674px;"><tbody><tr><td class="xl67" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #1be3df;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;"><span style="color: #00ffff;"><strong>Year</strong></span></td><td style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;padding: 0px;color: #333333;text-align: center;background-color: #1be3df;"><span style="color: #00ffff;"><strong>Conv</strong><strong>entional Wisdom at Given Point In Time</strong></span></td><td class="xl67" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;width: 357px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #1be3df;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;"><span style="color: #00ffff;"><strong>Corrected Wisdom Beyond Said Point In Time</strong></span></td><td class="xl67" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;width: 86px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #1be3df;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;"><span style="color: #00ffff;"><strong>Year</strong></span></td></tr><tr><td class="xl66" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;width: 74px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;">1960</td><td class="xl66" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="367">We can&#8217;t walk on the moon, more than 10ft of space dust covers it and a man would &#8220;sink!&rdquo;</td><td class="xl66" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;width: 357px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;">One small step proves minor amounts of dust, nothing a 6-iron couldn&#8217;t handle (see photo).</td><td class="xl66" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="86">1969</td></tr><tr><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="74">1999</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="367">Older computers are going to crash, causing major global havoc and Lord knows what else!!</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="357">Turns out a couple people had to reset the timers on their VCR&#8217;s, that&#8217;s about it.</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="86">2000</td></tr><tr><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="74">100&#8217;s -1543</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="367">Ptolomy had the whole world believing the sun and planets revolved around the earth.</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="357">Copernicus, Galileo &amp; others proved that 1500+ years of globally accepted FACT were wrong.</td><td class="xl65" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="86">1543</td></tr><tr><td class="xl68" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="74"><strong>August</strong><br/><strong> 2013</strong></td><td class="xl68" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="367"><strong>An increasing number of vacation homes in my area is hurting my vacation home business!</strong></td><td class="xl68" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="357"><strong>Keep reading, the Corrected Wisdom won&#8217;t fit inside this box, so we&#8217;ll have to get out of it&hellip;</strong></td><td class="xl68" style="border:2px solid black;border-color: #000000;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-width: 2px;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;background-color: #adb0f4;padding: 0px;text-align: center;color: #333333;" width="86"><strong>September</strong><br/><strong> 2013</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Now That We&#8217;re Outside The Box</span>&hellip;</strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">I&#8217;m going to challenge you to stay outside the box for the rest of this blog.&nbsp; Like 1,500 years of people before us who thought the universe revolved around them, we&#8217;ll need to change our thinking to realize the profitability of your vacation home doesn&#8217;t revolve around your area.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">When we started renting our first vacation home in Anaheim in 2007, our house was the 13<sup>th</sup> listing on VRBO in our area.&nbsp; When I started writing this blog post last Thursday, there were 198 listings on VRBO.&nbsp; By the time I finished it, there were 201.&nbsp; No doubt some of you out there have seen the same rapid growth, maybe even more so. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: underline;">Here Are 3 Reasons Why We Should ALL Be Happy About Increased Competition</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span></strong></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: underline;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><p><strong>1. Competition Makes Us Better</strong> &#8211; The idea that someone is trying to take food off our table compels us to get better.&nbsp; What are you doing to constantly improve?&nbsp; Reading this blog for one.&nbsp; Not everyone in your area is, so you&#8217;re already gaining on them!</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *Best Practice: After you&#8217;ve read through all the <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="17" data-containerType="-2" data-objectId="1319" data-objectType="37" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy">No Vacancy Blog Posts</a>, try reading</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">my competitor&#8217;s</span>, I mean my friend <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="17" data-containerType="-2" data-objectId="1880" data-objectType="37" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/vacation-rental-success-series">Joel&#8217;s blog on VR Success</a>.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Competition Validates Us</strong> &#8211; If there are homes popping up all around you then you must be in the right place and doing something right, right?&nbsp; Give such good service that the number of repeat guests outruns the vacation home growth and ride the wave. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>3. Competition Creates Loyalty</strong> &#8211; Now that you&#8217;ve read all the <strong>No Vacancy</strong> blogs you know that we&#8217;re trying to create Customers for Life (CFL&#8217;s) because they are great for ROI.&nbsp; By allowing #1 above to drive us, we create a gap that future CFL&#8217;s will recognize, appreciate and award you their ongoing business for doing so.&nbsp; And when your CFL&#8217;s friends travel to your area and say &#8220;there are so many homes to choose from,&rdquo; your CFL will adamantly say &#8220;don&#8217;t even bother calling anywhere else, stay where we stay.&rdquo;&nbsp; Smells like a <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1516" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals">Referral&#8217;s</a> cookin&#8217;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: underline;">Here Are 3 More Things You Can Do To Leverage The Rising Tide</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span></strong></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: underline;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><p><strong>1. Get In Cahoots</strong> &#8211; What local businesses other than vacation homes are also benefitting from the rising tide?&nbsp; Eateries, entertainment venues, touristy places?&nbsp; What are you doing to partner with them?&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Partner With Other Homes </strong>&#8211; Find a home similar to yours in your area, establish a relationship with the owner/manager and fill each other&#8217;s vacancies.&nbsp; We&#8217;ve all turned business away when two inquiries for the same dates go out. Lob one over to your new friend in anticipation that they will do the same.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t forget to pay/collect that referral bonus!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Keep Your Sights Set On the Horizon </strong>&#8211; It&#8217;s easy to become narrow-minded and short-sighted when we are about to eat vacant nights, but remember we&#8217;re running an endurance race, not a sprint.&nbsp; Keep doing all the <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1588" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/03/05/the-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference">Little Things</a> right and the business will be there.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-2168-5881/Moon+photo.jpg"><img alt="Moon photo.jpg" class="jive-image" height="163" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-2168-5881/464-163/Moon+photo.jpg" style="float: left;" width="464"/></a></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 1.8pt 0px 0px; text-align: right;"><strong> </strong>&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px 1.8pt 0px 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>But was JFK right about ALL boats rising with the tide?&nbsp; Let&#8217;s ask Dwight from "The Office." </strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 1.8pt 0px 0px; text-align: left;"><strong><br/></strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 1.8pt 0px 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-2168-5882/Dwight+photo.jpg"><img alt="Dwight photo.jpg" class="jive-image" height="311" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-2168-5882/Dwight+photo.jpg" width="450"/></a></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Here we have to concede a point to Dwight.&nbsp; Sunken boats are indeed unaffected by tides.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t be a sunken boat.</strong></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: underline;">Here Are 3 Ways to Not Be Sunk In A Rising Tide</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span></strong></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>1. Don&#8217;t Cry About It</strong> &#8211; If you are committed to your business, always look for the upside.&nbsp; Whining is terrible for ROI.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Don&#8217;t Immediately Slash Your Rates</strong> &#8211; Continue to <span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><em>sell the value</em></span> of your home to inquiries, and do it <span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><em>over the phone</em></span>, not email.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>3. Don&#8217;t Be Like Everybody Else</strong> &#8211; If you haven&#8217;t figured out your market niche, what is it?&nbsp; Value? Luxury?&nbsp; Family?&nbsp; Location?</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong></span>:</span>&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">All boats rise with the tide, unless they are already sunk.&nbsp; As the number of vacation homes in your area increases, so does the number of vacation home guests.&nbsp; Every time one of your guests (or theirs) has a great experience in a vacation home an incremental potential CFL for you has been created.&nbsp; Do what you can to leverage the rising tide.&nbsp; The formula we are working from is:&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><strong>More Vacation Homes = More Vacation Home Guests = More Potential CFL&#8217;s For You = Higher ROI</strong></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Here&#8217;s to high tides and higher profits.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Cheers!</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:a501bd88-d85a-45c3-b3d1-63d0c4be34af] -->vrboinquirieshomeawayvacationvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingmarketing_techniquesadvertising_your_rentalbookingsblogadvertising_your_listingroiinteracting_with_guestsmichael_smithrevenuereferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roivacation_homeadvertising_your_rental;repeat_rentersreturn_renterscompetitionvacationrentalsprofitMon, 26 Aug 2013 21:09:53 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/08/26/more-vacation-homes-in-your-area-higher-roi-for-you2013-08-26T21:09:53Z1 year 6 months ago20https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/more-vacation-homes-in-your-area-higher-roi-for-youhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=2168The Dad Factor – Happy Father’s Stayhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/06/03/the-dad-factor-happy-father-s-stay
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:5dc4f7b0-d150-45ff-84ad-fadb3fe685c7] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">The Dad Factor, as I define it, is what adds up to make all Dads 100% awesome. Each Dad&#8217;s factor is comprised of varying levels of ego, competency, age, # of children, stubbornness and many other elements.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">However, within the factor there are some basic certainties that apply universally to Dads, certainties that might be considered when looking at Dad&#8217;s experience in your vacation home.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">First, what do we know about Dad&#8217;s role while in your vacation home?</span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">He is usually the one to unclog the toilet (who clogged it notwithstanding).</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">He is usually the one to change a light bulb.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">He is usually the one to fix &#8220;it&rdquo; when it breaks.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">He is usually the one to figure out how to use the TV and remote.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">He is usually the one to fire up the grill.</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Considering the above, there are things that we, as vacation home owners, can do to increase the likelihood that Dad will Love his stay in our home and ideally become a CFL (customer for life).</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Here are some ideas (please share yours in a comment below):</span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Help him be useful if he wants to be (he does), so give him the right tool for the job.&nbsp; </strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Make sure that Dad will have no problem finding the plunger when his 4 year old princess uses half the roll of toilet paper.&nbsp; Better yet, upgrade your plunger to the type intended for big clogs.&nbsp; You know, the ones for <em>heavy</em> <em>doodie</em> use?&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">While at the hardware store, it&#8217;s not a bad idea to pick up a twenty dollar basic home tool kit when you are buying that HD plunger.&nbsp; Having basic tool kits in our houses has had a positive ROI by helping Dads resolve an unexpected situation for us, preventing a call to the handyman.&nbsp; After all, every Dad is <em>somewhere</em> on the handyman spectrum.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Help him be the problem solver.&nbsp; </strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Make sure there is a flashlight with good batteries so he can investigate that noise outside.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Let Dad replace the light bulb your property manager hasn&#8217;t noticed is out yet.&nbsp; Put a few of each type of light bulb somewhere accessible but out of the way, such as an upper cabinet shelf.&nbsp; Dads usually are the ones asked to reach it off the upper shelf anyway.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Help him prevent meltdowns by providing basic step by step TV/DVD/Satellite instructions with the remote control so Dad can get the Disney channel on <span style="text-decoration: underline;">before</span> the little one loses it.&nbsp; It&#8217;s her vacation too!&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Provide long wooden matches or a long BBQ grill lighter somewhere in the kitchen or near the grill so if the igniter isn&#8217;t working (as they often aren&#8217;t) the burgers and dogs won&#8217;t be delayed.&nbsp; <strong>BEST PRACTICE:</strong>&nbsp; Give the grill a good cleaning every checkout, Dads always appreciate a clean grill.&nbsp; And provide proper tools (stainless steel grilling instruments) for the job!&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Help him make great memories.</strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">Help Dad easily make some lasting memories with his family while enjoying your house. Family board games or video games, pool toys, game tables like foosball or shuffleboard, or a basketball hoop can do the trick.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000;">What&#8217;s unique to your area?&nbsp; Maybe you have a big lawn.&nbsp; When was the last time anyone played croquette?&nbsp; I have great family memories playing croquette with my grandparents, uncles, cousins and my Dad.&nbsp; Those are the kind of</span> <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">Delightful Memories</a> we want to provide.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Another delightful memory maker we&#8217;ve had success with is providing a waterproof digital video camera for our guests to use in the pool and around the house. Guests who want it willingly pay an additional $5/day for their stay and thank us specifically for it upon checkout. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Dads are awesome, every single one of us.&nbsp; Our experience in a vacation home should be at least as awesome as we are.&nbsp; Vacation home owners can consider Dad&#8217;s experience and do a couple things to help Dad stay awesome while on vacation.&nbsp; Do things to win Dad&#8217;s vote to stay at your house next time they come to town.&nbsp; Help him be useful if he chooses to be, and help him keep his family&#8217;s trip from any hiccups related to the house.&nbsp; Most of all, help him make some delightful memories that will further his family legend of awesome for years to come.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Here&#8217;s to Dads, and to the rest of you who put up with us&hellip;Happy Father&#8217;s Day!&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:5dc4f7b0-d150-45ff-84ad-fadb3fe685c7] -->advertisingvrboamenitieshomeawaymaintenancevacation_rentalnew_to_rentingadvertising_your_rentalblogadvertising_your_listingroisummerfamilymichael_smithrevenuegrillreferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roikidsrepeat_rentersreturn_rentersbarbequetoolsfathers_daydadsbarbecuebbqjuneMon, 03 Jun 2013 15:00:45 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/06/03/the-dad-factor-happy-father-s-stay2013-06-03T15:00:45Z1 year 9 months ago0https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/the-dad-factor-happy-father-s-stayhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=2086The HomeAway Summit is Great for ROIhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/03/27/the-homeaway-owner-s-summit-is-great-for-roi
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:e8542572-2ef9-4726-8bdf-2f10b1553994] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Why aren&#8217;t you going to the <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://homeawaysummit.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HomeAway Summit</a> this year?&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For those who are still undecided or are thinking of not going to the Summit, you are missing out on a great opportunity to improve your ROI.&nbsp; The information, <strong>new ideas</strong>, <strong>connections</strong> and <strong>resources</strong> you gain at a Summit lead to <strong>reduced costs</strong>, <strong>increased sales</strong> and <strong>streamlined operations</strong>, all positive contributions to the bottom line.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>We Saved Hundreds!</strong></span>&nbsp; At last year&#8217;s summit we met the guys from Vacation Rent Payment, and after moving our credit card processing over to them we reduced our discount fees by more than 10% in 2012, saving us hundreds of dollars that went straight to our bottom line.&nbsp; We will continue to realize those savings going forward (as long as we take credit cards) resulting in a direct increase to our bottom line revenue each year with no further action required on our part.&nbsp; Smells like a winner to me.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Even if that were the only benefit we&#8217;ve had from attending a summit we would say it&#8217;s worth it, but there have been so many more.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Benefits Of Attending the Summit</strong></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Networking with other home owners</span> &#8211; it&#8217;s tremendously valuable to converse with other vacation home owners and the Summit is the best place to do it.&nbsp; You&#8217;ll meet people from all over the world who are eager to share what&#8217;s working for them in their business and to hear about what is working for you in yours.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">HomeAway gives you insider treatment</span> &#8211; attendees are often invited to participate in beta trials for new products that HomeAway and other industry affiliates are creating to help us be more successful.&nbsp; You get the opportunity to provide feedback and shape the finished product, plus you get access to it sooner and sometimes cheaper than the rest of the world.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Meet HomeAway leaders and influencers</span> &#8211; The people who are growing our industry every day are all in attendance and highly accessible.&nbsp; The question &amp; answer sessions are very informative and provide a forum for us to praise, vent, question and learn.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Summit Trip</strong></span></p><ol><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;">Go into the summit with the mindset that you are on a treasure hunt for information that will be valuable to you and your business.&nbsp; This is a great opportunity to set aside time to improve your business, so make the most of it because it may be the only time you do it this year.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></li><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;">Make a list of the questions and topics you are interested in ahead of time.&nbsp; If you attend with a purpose you are more likely to get what you want from the Summit. </span></li><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;">Along the way find the people in HomeAway shirts and network. These people have great knowledge and can link you with the department heads and project leads that can move your business forward.&nbsp; </span></li><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;">Make it a point to meet and greet everyone you make eye contact with.&nbsp; &#8220;So where is your home?&rdquo; is the easiest ice breaker there can be.&nbsp; At minimum, you will learn about a new area of the world, at best you will learn a best practice or two and maybe even work a trade for a stay in a vacation home.&nbsp; Bonus! Best Practice:&nbsp; Make it easy to pass your information along.&nbsp; Take some business cards, even if you have to print them at home. </span></li><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Take notes.&nbsp; It worked in school and it will work in business.&nbsp; Write down those epiphanies that are bound to happen as you attend sessions, talk with people and ponder your business.</span></li></ol><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; The HomeAway Summit can only make your vacation home business better.&nbsp; You will hear great ideas from other home owners, you will get sneak peeks into what HomeAway is doing to drive our businesses, and it gives you the chance to tell someone at HomeAway about your idea (or beef) and actually have a chance to get something done about it, or at least understand why it is the way it is. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Between the ideas you will gain to cut costs and drive revenue and the write-off on your taxes (you are your accountant) it will be a great way to increase your ROI over the next year.&nbsp; It will be time and money well spent.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here&#8217;s to HomeAway for bringing us all together for the good of our businesses!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Michael</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sign up for HomeAway Summit here: <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.homeawaysummit.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.homeawaysummit.com</a></span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:e8542572-2ef9-4726-8bdf-2f10b1553994] -->vrbohomeawaybest_practiceshomeaway_summitvacation_rentalsummitconferencenew_to_rentingimprove_your_listingbookingsroimaximizingmichael_smithrevenueeducationworkshopmaximizing_roigoalsindustry_eventsowner_summitowner_educationWed, 27 Mar 2013 15:42:30 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/03/27/the-homeaway-owner-s-summit-is-great-for-roi2013-03-27T15:42:30Z1 year 11 months ago0https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/the-homeaway-owner-s-summit-is-great-for-roihttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1883It’s Raining…It’s Pouring...Revenue Is...Soaring??https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/03/11/it-s-raining-it-s-pouringrevenue-issoaring
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:9ee5ec59-0aad-4eee-8d15-6f0f9e7f32b4] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="text-align: center;">&#8220;The shortest period of time lies between the minute you put some money away for a rainy day and the unexpected arrival of rain.&rdquo;&nbsp; Jane Bryant Quinn</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">I see saving up for a rainy day, or establishing a <strong>Reserve Fund</strong>, kind of like how my kids see their vegetables.&nbsp; We both know what needs to be done and we both know why it should be done&hellip;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;">&#8220;But if broccoli <em>smells</em> this bad, won&#8217;t it taste even worse?&rdquo;&nbsp; - <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Me </span>My Kid</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">The idea of putting additional money (we can&#8217;t spare) aside for some unknown thing that may or may not happen just smells bad.&nbsp; Then after that first month where you reduced your owner draw by 20% to start the Reserve Fund, the originally smelly idea ends up tasting just as bad as it smelt.&nbsp; Or is it smelled?&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I am here to tell you that I am now a believer who LOVES broccoli.&nbsp; </strong></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Termites? Not so much&hellip;&nbsp; Pesky little termites gave us our first opportunity to dip into our Reserve Fund, which we reluctantly and nearly did <span style="text-decoration: underline;">not</span> set up a year ago as we started renting the third house.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>I never thought paying thousands of dollars to eradicate tiny little house-biting bugs could feel so good.&nbsp; </strong></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">The first time a band of termites set out to eat one of our houses it caught us completely by surprise and $3,600 later we were left thoroughly bummed out.&nbsp; We had the money in our account but we were headed into our off-peak season when cash is tighter, and it made for an uncomfortably long winter and some dismal owners draws.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong style="text-decoration: underline;">Here&#8217;s How The Rainy Day Fund Works</strong> (adjust according to your house&#8217;s specific circumstances.)<br/> <span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">*I&#8217;ll assume that you are in some way tracking your revenue and expenses.&nbsp; If you are not, <em>yet</em>, then be sure to read the next blog.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Step 1: Determine a target amount to have in reserve (as cash, and accessible).&nbsp; Let&#8217;s say $10,000.</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -.5in;">Step 2: Figure out how much you can pull from your monthly owner draw, enough that you will feel it but it won&#8217;t disrupt your ability to cover monthly expenses.&nbsp; Let&#8217;s say 20% of monthly net income.</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -.5in;">Step 3: Set this money aside and use your first month&#8217;s reserve to open a new savings account.&nbsp; *Not a must-do, but we&#8217;ve found it to be convenient for book keeping.</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -.5in;">Step 4: Don&#8217;t cheat the fund.&nbsp; You&#8217;ve got to be consistent and build your monthly P&amp;L to account for this money being set aside.&nbsp; Now watch it grow!&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><strong style="text-decoration: underline;">Here&#8217;s Why I Wanted to Tell All of You About It</strong></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>Consistent Cash Flow</strong> is the first reason our reserve fund worked great.&nbsp; We took a $3,000 expense hit in stride and still received 100% of the owner draw that month.&nbsp; We had enough money in the reserve account to cover the extraordinary and unforeseen expense.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>Consistent Level of Service</strong> is perhaps a more valuable reason to establish a Reserve Fund.&nbsp; We did not have to scramble for the money, wait for more bookings or put it on the dreaded profit-munching credit card in order to take care of the problem.&nbsp; The repairs were completed over our first three day opening because we had the cash on-hand to do so.&nbsp;&nbsp; We did not have to inconvenience guests with our problem, and even if we had to put them in other accommodations we had the money on-hand to do so without worrying. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>Peace of Mind</strong> is what the first two benefits above add up to.&nbsp; But there&#8217;s more.&nbsp; Our Reserve Fund is more than 60% to our goal even after the termites, Lord willing it will hit the goal in 2013.&nbsp; Once that happens we can look forward to a 20% <strong>Increase In Owner Draw</strong>, a welcome pay raise.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>: Saving up for a rainy day is a good idea that is worth the short-term pain to get there.&nbsp; Having a Reserve Fund will stabilize your monthly cash flow and provide a nice sustainable boost in owner draw once your fund is met.&nbsp; The peace of mind in knowing you have that cushion will pay dividends every day, and the immediate access to cash in the event that something major happens will help you make the repair sooner, accommodate the inconvenienced guests and ultimately provide that WOW moment in the face a potentially bad situation.&nbsp; Those are the moments that create a customer for life, and we could all use more of those.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Here&#8217;s to the month <em>after</em> our Rainy Day Funds spill over.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:9ee5ec59-0aad-4eee-8d15-6f0f9e7f32b4] -->advertisingvrbohomeawayvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingadvertising_your_rentalbookingsblogadvertising_your_listingroimaximizingmichael_smithrevenuereferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roiadvertising_your_rental;repeat_rentersreturn_renterssavingsaving_moneyTue, 12 Mar 2013 01:55:42 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2013/03/11/it-s-raining-it-s-pouringrevenue-issoaring2013-03-12T01:55:42Z1 year 12 months ago10https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/it-s-raining-it-s-pouringrevenue-issoaringhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1850Kids = Revenue: Do You Welcome Kids Into Your Vacation Home?https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/10/18/kids-revenue-do-you-welcome-kids-into-your-vacation-home
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:eea20fe5-b3f1-4382-be1e-28c4e3ef7aab] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Given that we now have four, yes FOUR (see sidebar) kids under 7 years old we have realized that we don&#8217;t want to, or should we say we are not able to, travel with strollers, highchairs, pack &lsquo;n plays, Bumbos and a separate suitcase for toys and dress-up clothes.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><em> </em>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><strong><em>Guess what?&nbsp; Our (potential) guests don&#8217;t want to travel with all of that kid stuff either!<br/> <br/></em></strong></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It turns out that giving thought and attention to the needs of the kids is great for business too because it allows us to tap into the three R&#8217;s that we all Love so much: <strong>Referrals</strong>, <strong>Repeats</strong> and <strong>Reviews</strong>.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><strong><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1753-3770/Kids+blog.png"><img alt="Kids blog.png" class="jive-image" height="349" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1753-3770/245-349/Kids+blog.png" style="float: right;" width="245"/></a></strong></span></p><p style="margin: 0 159.3pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><strong>Just a few reasons we have found that kids can increase ROI:</strong></span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>Kids often heavily influence their parents&#8217; decision on which house to rent or return to.</li><li>Kids are fairly easy to please if you put a little effort into <strong><a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">DELIGHTING</a></strong> them.</li><li>When we win over the kids we automatically win over their parents at guest review time and when they are sharing their vacation stories.</li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The majority of our guests are families with kids and usually one or more of the kids are under 10 years old.&nbsp; There is no quicker path to a parent&#8217;s heart than through their kids. For that reason we make an effort during each inquiry to find out whatever we can about the kids in the group.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">With the knowledge of the ages of the kids who may be staying with us we help parents and grandparents (potential guests) understand why our homes are ideally suited for grownups and kids alike.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 159.3pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><strong>Some of the kid-friendly features we have included in our homes:</strong></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Multiple strollers, two pack &lsquo;n plays, a high-chair and a Bumbo.</li><li>Fully stocked game cabinet and toy closet. Best Practice &#8211; add a monthly organizational clean-out of games and toys to your <strong><span class="active_link"><a class="jive-link-wiki-small" data-containerId="2101" data-containerType="14" data-objectId="3151" data-objectType="102" href="https://community.homeaway.com/docs/DOC-3151">PM Checklist</a><span style="color: windowtext;">!</span></span></strong></li><li>Individually packaged kid snacks in the welcome basket.</li><li>Kid-friendly movies and video games for various age levels.</li><li>Automatic walk-on safety covers over the swimming pools.</li><li>Electrical outlet covers and cabinet latches where appropriate.</li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Detailing some of the features like the ones above sends a message to parents (potential guests) that &#8220;your kiddos will have fun in our home.&rdquo;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Occasionally we&#8217;ll raid the clearance racks in the toy and clothing aisles to stock up on inexpensive treats for our little guests.&nbsp; Five or ten bucks can go a long way toward the three R&#8217;s and net a pretty good ROI.&nbsp; At check-in kids have found pajamas with their favorite Disney character on them, Disneyland signature books, activity/coloring books and inexpensive packaged toys just to name a few.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Do you have any kid-friendly features in your home?&nbsp; Do you leverage them effectively during the inquiry process? How can you improve in this area?</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Kids are profitable!&nbsp; Wait, that didn&#8217;t come out quite right.&nbsp; I meant to say, kids are GREAT!&nbsp; Plus, kids are great for business too.&nbsp; Building Kid-Friendly features into the vacation home experience you offer will endear your business to your guests.&nbsp; That means they are more likely to give you <strong><a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1516" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals">REFERRAL</a></strong> business, <strong>Repeat</strong> business and great guest <strong>Reviews</strong>.&nbsp; We all know those three R&#8217;s add up to Maximum ROI!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">So raise a glass of chocolate milk to the little guests and give them memories that will leave them longing for their &#8220;other&rdquo; home.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><em>What have any of you guys done to make your homes more kid-friendly? Please share your best practices and comments below.</em></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 1.8pt 0 0;">Michael</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>P.S. Please forgive the shameless plug for our other newest baby, Pipsqueak&reg;.&nbsp; Remember a while back I mentioned we were working on a project? Well, Angela invented the first Bluetooth phone just for kids!&nbsp; Like proud parents we&#8217;re just so excited that we want to tell the whole world about it. <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.yipyap.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thank you for your readership and please learn more and support our Kickstarter!</a></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:eea20fe5-b3f1-4382-be1e-28c4e3ef7aab] -->advertisingvrboamenitieshomeawaymaintenancevacation_rentalnew_to_rentingadvertising_your_rentalbookingsadvertising_your_listingroigames_for_vacation_homeinteracting_with_guestsfamilymichael_smithrevenuerepeat_guestsmaximizing_roiadvertising_your_rental;kidsrepeat_rentersreturn_rentersfamilieskid_friendlypipsqueakyip-yaprenting_to_familiesThu, 18 Oct 2012 16:28:16 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/10/18/kids-revenue-do-you-welcome-kids-into-your-vacation-home2012-10-18T16:28:16Z2 years 4 months ago10https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/kids-revenue-do-you-welcome-kids-into-your-vacation-homehttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1753Take Time “Off” and Send Yourself on a Getawayhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/08/13/take-time-off-and-send-yourself-on-a-getaway
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:e97f9a37-f775-44ad-890d-ac27b8fbd5e0] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Sorry for the delay everyone, I&#8217;ve been &#8220;off.&rdquo;&nbsp; This is the time of year that Angela, the kids and I make the 1,350 mile drive to California for a getaway.&nbsp; This time we invited another family along with us to really see things from our guests&#8217; perspective.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>If you aren&#8217;t spending time &#8220;off&rdquo;, as a guest, in the home you own or manage, you should be.</strong></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">In this post I&#8217;ll share some of the things that we&#8217;ve uncovered during this trip.&nbsp; We hope that you will:</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ol style="list-style-type: decimal;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">) Benefit from some of our learnings, and </span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">) Realize the value you can create by making it a priority to spend time as a guest in your home.<a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1707-3290/Disney+kids.bmp"><img alt="Disney kids.bmp" class="jive-image" height="311" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1707-3290/325-311/Disney+kids.bmp" style="float: right;" width="325"/></a></span></li></ol><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">We try to &#8220;get away&rdquo; to our homes at least once a year.&nbsp; Often we even block peak calendar time for ourselves because it always proves to be a great return on our investment (not to mention the write-off that the expenses from the &#8220;business trip&rdquo; can provide).</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">I&#8217;m not talking about staying at your home for regular maintenance or while you remodel the bathroom.&nbsp; Although maintenance and remodels are important, this time in your home is different.&nbsp; This time &#8220;off&rdquo; is meant to allow you to experience first-hand the joys and frustrations that your guests feel when they stay at your place.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">I&#8217;ll readily admit that it&#8217;s very difficult for us to stay in a guest&#8217;s frame of mind when there are so many things to be done as the owner.&nbsp; But each time we&#8217;ve stayed it&#8217;s gotten a little easier to get away for partial and full days at the home and the insight has proven valuable.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>3 Useful Tips We&#8217;ve Learned:</strong></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><ol style="list-style-type: decimal;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">It&#8217;s easier to switch from owner-mode to guest-mode when you have Loved ones with you.&nbsp; </span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">While at the home, only &#8220;work&rdquo; on tasks that you personally add value to and try to plan your stay with a dedicated day or two for projects then the rest for making memories with Loved ones.&nbsp; If something can be handled after you checkout or by someone else in the coming weeks, just make note of it and resist the temptation to knock it out during your stay.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">On your last day, sit in a comfy spot and ask yourself from a guest&#8217;s perspective, &#8220;What does this place really need to give me an experience to tell others about?&rdquo;&nbsp; (Read</span> <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">Creating Delightful Memories</a>)</li></ol><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong> </strong>&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Fruits from Our Stay:</strong></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Backyard sound system</strong> &#8211; In theory the surround sound in the family room was intended to easily provide sound in the backyard, but in practice we found that we really needed a dedicated music source outside.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Broken water guns are a bummer</strong> &#8211; After a two-day drive we all hopped in the pool.&nbsp; A water gun fight quickly ensued only to find out that three of the four super soakers were completely non-functioning.&nbsp; Went ahead and took care of this one myself&hellip;for the kids of course.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Fan made a slight knocking noise</strong> &#8211; This isn&#8217;t bothersome until you are trying to fall asleep under a clicking fan. I cringe at the thought that this has kept our guests awake like it did me.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Alarm clocks are clumsy and behind the curve</strong> &#8211; I wanted to play music from my Android but our alarm clocks were not equipped.&nbsp; Most <em>hotels</em> offer this now; we probably should have them for $20 each.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Gate to the backyard was stuck</strong> &#8211; This only matters to whoever takes out the trash, but it&#8217;s an unnecessary nuisance that will be easy (for someone else!) to fix now that we know about it. </span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Half bath needs a &#8220;noisy vent fan&rdquo;</strong> &#8211; Noises from a half bath downstairs make all who are within earshot uncomfortable.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Window glare on TV from setting sun</strong> &#8211; For about 45 minutes per day the big screen has a giant glare across it from a high window.&nbsp; We found residual tape from one of our guest&#8217;s attempts to correct the same issue.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Additional finds</strong>:&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><ul><li><span style="color: #000000;">Needs more towel/closet hooks</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Keys need a keychain/lanyard</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Linen closet needs labels</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Nail in the floor popped up &#8211; Ouch!</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Toilet seats are loose</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Several doors squeak</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">iPod cord is &#8220;lost&rdquo;</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Pack n Play is clumsy</span></li></ul></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; By becoming your own guest for a few days you will see your business from your guests&#8217; perspective.&nbsp; That perspective will help you make informed decisions about your business + smart investments into your business.&nbsp; The output should lead to increased guest satisfaction = increased occupancy = increased revenues = increased ROI.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Now quit &#8220;working&rdquo; and go enjoy some time &#8220;off&rdquo; in your favorite vacation home!&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Michael</span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:e97f9a37-f775-44ad-890d-ac27b8fbd5e0] -->advertisingvrboamenitieshomeawayvacationvacation_rentalrentalsrentalnew_to_rentingadvertising_your_rentalblogadvertising_your_listingroiinteracting_with_guestsmaximizingmichael_smithrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roirepeat_rentersimproving_vacation_rentalenhancing_vacation_rentalbest_practiceMon, 13 Aug 2012 22:51:42 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/08/13/take-time-off-and-send-yourself-on-a-getaway2012-08-13T22:51:42Z2 years 7 months ago20https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/take-time-off-and-send-yourself-on-a-getawayhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1707Keep Your Eye on the “I” in R.O.I.https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/07/09/keep-your-eye-on-the-i-in-roi
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:79e33e40-f7ed-4227-818d-8ca068985f6b] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: Arial;"><strong>in&middot;vest</strong></span>&nbsp; <em>v.&nbsp; </em>To commit money or capital in order to gain a financial return.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em> </em></span>&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: #000000;"><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s all about the R.O.I: Return On Investment.&rdquo;</em></span></p><p align="center" style="margin: 0 0 0 1in; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #000000;">-probably said by every capitalist, ever, according to me.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">If you are not actively looking for new ways to invest money back into your vacation home business you should be!&nbsp; Here are just a few reasons why:</span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">You can ALWAYS improve.&nbsp; You can ALWAYS do better.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">To differentiate your home from competitors.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">To maximize the profitability of your business.</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Angela and I embarked upon a new venture in recent months (totally unrelated to vacation homes) and have met with various capitalists (potential investors) along the way.&nbsp; We&#8217;ve noticed that they all have the same approach when evaluating whether or not to make an investment.&nbsp; They ask:</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: #000000;"><em>What is my return on the investment?</em></span></p><p align="center" style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: #000000;"><em>What are the risks associated with this investment?</em></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">These are the questions that we, as vacation home owner/operators, should be asking ourselves when considering making an investment back into our vacation home businesses.&nbsp; Investments in this case mean any money we &#8220;spend&rdquo; on our business with the intention of making us more money in return.&nbsp; Like:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1680-3289/ROI+pic2.bmp"><img alt="ROI pic2.bmp" class="jive-image jive-image-thumbnail" height="135" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1680-3289/688-135/ROI+pic2.bmp" width="688"/></a></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>To Invest, Or Not To Invest&hellip;THAT Is the Question.</strong></span>&nbsp; Try this:</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 0 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: #000000;">Step 1: Determine whether the expenditure will help you make more money (drive incremental revenue) or keep more of the money you are already making (reduce operating costs).</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Step 2: Determine what other costs are associated with implementing the investment. Consider:</span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><ul><li><span style="color: #000000;">Delivery, installation, additional components needed to complete the investment. </span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Your own time to research, purchase and implement the investment.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Ongoing maintenance required to continue making or saving money via this investment.</span></li></ul></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 0 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: #000000;">Step 3: Determine the amount of money to be made or saved versus doing nothing, thus saving the investment funds for another opportunity.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Step 4:&nbsp; Evaluate the riskiness of the investment.&nbsp; How sure are you that you will realize your expected return?&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Step 5:&nbsp; Decide for yourself whether or not the risk is worth the return.&nbsp; If it is, implement.&nbsp; If it isn&#8217;t, don&#8217;t.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Some real life examples:</strong></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>A Good Investment We Made:&nbsp; $450 on a Power Flush Toilet. </strong>&nbsp; After the umpteenth $150 &#8220;emergency&rdquo; call to RotoRooter for a majorly clogged toilet in our guest bathroom we decided to try a <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.funskins.com/product-reviews/best-toilets.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Power Flush Toilet</a>.&nbsp; <strong>Actual Return:</strong>&nbsp; We haven&#8217;t had to call RotoRooter again for that toilet in the four years we&#8217;ve had it, and have since replaced three other clog-prone toilets with power flushers.&nbsp; PLUS, happy guests who don&#8217;t have to endure the awkward conversation with us first and then the plumber about how the toilet got clogged.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>A <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Bad</span> Terrible Investment We Made:&nbsp; $3,000 on a Full Page Color Newspaper Ad</strong>. With a large % of Canadian guests we thought an ad in an Alberta, Canada vacation real estate special edition would generate at least one incremental booking.&nbsp; Maybe even two bookings? <strong>Actual Return:</strong>&nbsp; ZERO! Not even one inquiry that tied back to our special &#8220;promo offer&rdquo; from the ad.&nbsp; Ouch!&nbsp; Lesson learned.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Our Most Recent Investments:&nbsp; $250 on Pool Rafts.</strong>&nbsp; Angela&#8217;s idea, I needed convincing.&nbsp; Anyone with a pool knows that rafts need replacing usually once a season or more.&nbsp; These <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.frontgate.com/world-s-finest-pool-floats-in-bright-colors/pool-beach/pool-floats/158297?listIndex=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">$120 pool rafts</a>&nbsp; supposedly do not tear or puncture; plus they don&#8217;t need to be filled with air.&nbsp; <strong>Expected Return:&nbsp; </strong>No more replacing pool rafts ($25-40 each), no more paying our PM&#8217;s to fill rafts, check for leaks and purchase replacement rafts.&nbsp; Perhaps most importantly, our guests won&#8217;t be burdened with filling/patching/replacing pool rafts.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>$250 on Melamine Outdoor Dinnerware.</strong>&nbsp; A line item in our annual budget is to replace all outdoor dinnerware for eating on the patio because, well, it gets nasty.&nbsp; The plastic shows knife cuts and wear from dishwashing after only a few uses.&nbsp; <strong>Expected Return:</strong>&nbsp; <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.target.com/p/melamine-12-pc-dinnerware-set-red/-/A-10556333" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Melamine</a> is way more durable than plastic so it should last multiples seasons, show less wear and tear and give our guests a more pleasant outdoor dining experience.&nbsp; Plus, one less thing for our PM&#8217;s to manage.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; It takes money to make money and the minute a business stops investing money in its future it begins to die.&nbsp; As vacation home owners we should always be looking for the next great investment for our business.&nbsp; Once you have one, figure out what it will cost to implement, what it will cost to maintain, and how much extra revenue it can generate.&nbsp; If the return looks good after considering all of the risks then pull the trigger and maximize your R.O.I.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Here&#8217;s to many positive returns on our investments!&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Michael</span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:79e33e40-f7ed-4227-818d-8ca068985f6b] -->advertisingvrboinquirieshomeawayvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingbookingsadvertising_your_listingroireturn_on_investmentmaximizingmichael_smithrevenuerepeat_guestsmaximizing_roigoalsadvertising_your_rental;repeat_rentersreturn_rentersvacation_rental_101competitiondifferentiationbadwhich_is_a_better_investmentmarketing_ideasinvestingideainvestMon, 09 Jul 2012 23:01:27 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/07/09/keep-your-eye-on-the-i-in-roi2012-07-09T23:01:27Z2 years 7 months ago10https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/keep-your-eye-on-the-i-in-roihttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1680Screening Guests: “Thanks But No Thanks!”https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/05/14/screening-guests-thanks-but-no-thanks
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:75e7c099-1f56-4f5d-91ac-f80b563eac81] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;"><strong><br/></strong></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Angela and I have turned away five potential bookings for upcoming open nights in just the past 30 days!&nbsp; Prom season is upon us and there is a growing trend among frothy high school seniors to convince their parents that a post-prom party at a &#8220;rented home&rdquo; is a great idea.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Elephant; color: #000000;">We&#8217;d rather be vacant.</span></p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Elephant; color: #000000;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1649-2757/NoVacancy.png"><img alt="NoVacancy.png" class="jive-image" height="70" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1649-2757/81-70/NoVacancy.png" width="81"/></a><br/></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;">We&#8217;ve been blessed with more than 500 bookings, this blog is about the dozen or so we would rather have said &#8220;Thanks But No Thanks&rdquo; to.&nbsp; For us, local social gatherings are one of several types of bookings which we have learned can easily lead to lost revenue due to:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;">Unnecessary damage to our home</span><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1649-2774/Money.png"><img alt="Money.png" class="jive-image" height="126" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1649-2774/167-126/Money.png" style="float: right;" width="167"/></a></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;">Interruptions for the subsequent guests</span></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;">Disputes with the offending group</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Upset neighbors</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Negative reviews</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">To protect ourselves against money flying out the (broken) window we have established a profile, for <em>our</em> business, of groups that we usually would rather not do business with.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1649-2759/Copter.png"><img alt="Copter.png" class="jive-image" height="124" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1649-2759/163-124/Copter.png" style="float: right;" width="163"/></a></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><map>Our profile includes: </map></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><ul><li><span style="color: #000000;">Bachelor/bachelorette parties, post wedding parties (police helicopter!)</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Young adults without proper supervision</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Bookings with pets (READ</span> <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1318" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1584" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/ownersecrets/2012/02/29/vr-dilemma-pet-friendly-or-pet-free">VR Dilemma: Pet Friendly or Pet Free?</a>)</li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Groups staying less than 3 nights</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Groups not inclusive of the person who has signed our rental agreement</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Ultimately the list above equates to LOST revenue.&nbsp; Broken windows, broken glass in the pool, stolen items, damaged furniture, scratched floors and police helicopters&hellip;oh my!&nbsp; With only four hours between bookings, we don&#8217;t have the time to scramble while trying to resolve an unforeseen issue; vacation home owners get enough of those anyway.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">There are three primary methods we use for screening our potential guests:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><ol><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Ask Them</strong>.&nbsp; Seems obvious enough, right?&nbsp; I&#8217;m amazed at how many owners I talk with who say they employ little to no screening for their inquiries.&nbsp; We try to speak live with each person who books with us so we can ask them about their trip.&nbsp; In addition to finding out why they are renting we often can provide great insight into how they can make the most of their stay.</span>&nbsp; <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">Recall Delightful Memories?</a></li><br/><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Google Them</strong>.&nbsp; I spoke with an owner at this years&#8217; HomeAway Summit who runs a criminal background on every guest.&nbsp; While that may be extreme, the idea of doing a little diligence on the person/group booking your home is a good one.&nbsp; Google makes it easy, and sometimes you uncover that your guests may have something very interesting in common with you.</span></li><br/><li style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Get a Reference</strong>.&nbsp; When considering large groups, like a traveling youth sports team, we will politely ask whether or not they have stayed in&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; vacation homes before and if they would be able to provide a reference.&nbsp; If they hesitate, that is a red flag to us.</span></li></ol><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><br/><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">CASE STUDY -The Hawaiian High School Basketball Team:</span>&nbsp; Three years ago we received a call from a high school basketball coach looking to rent our home for his group of teenage boys.&nbsp; Stopping just short of &#8220;Thanks but no thanks&rdquo; we asked for a reference, to which he provided three.&nbsp; After speaking with two of them, we said we&#8217;d only be comfortable with a larger security deposit.&nbsp; He obliged. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">We set clear expectations of how our home should be treated while asking if there was anything special they would need for their group.&nbsp; He asked for a large rice cooker.&nbsp; We obliged. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">THE RESULT:</span>&nbsp; Their stay was fantastic, no trouble whatsoever.&nbsp; He has rented from us three more times for a total of six weeks and they are model guests.&nbsp; We no longer require any cash deposit (just the cc# in our agreement) and it&#8217;s a giant &#8220;Love fest&rdquo; between us with gifts and thanks flowing freely both ways. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">So there can be exceptions, but you need a baseline by which to make those exceptions.&nbsp; The beauty of creating a profile of groups you don&#8217;t want is that it gives you a means by which you can also make exceptions.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> </strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Not every booking is good for our business.&nbsp; And what&#8217;s good for our business may not be good for <em>yours</em>, each home is unique.&nbsp; Develop criteria to identify which bookings are not right for <em>your</em> business and say &#8220;Thanks But No Thanks!&rdquo; to those inquiries unless you can somehow reduce your exposure to the risk those bookings present. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Resisting the temptation to book a reservation that doesn&#8217;t fit <em>your</em> guest profile will result in a lower average cost for turns, fewer headaches and a higher quality experience for the guests you <em>do</em> want.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Here&#8217;s to great guests, risky guests and the discernment to recognize the difference.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Michael</span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:75e7c099-1f56-4f5d-91ac-f80b563eac81] -->vrboscreeninghomeawaynew_to_rentingadvertising_your_rentalbookingsadvertising_your_listinginteracting_with_guestspolicies_and_proceduressecurity_depositscreening_inquiriesmichael_smithrevenuereferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roigoalsscreening_guestsrepeat_rentersreturn_rentersscreen_guestsscreening_travelersscreen_travelersdamageprevent_problems_before_they_happenwhat_to_do_if_damages_exceed_amount_of_security_depositwithholding_for_damagesdamage_depositkeeping_damage_depositstenant_damagetrouble_with_rentersMon, 14 May 2012 23:00:03 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/05/14/screening-guests-thanks-but-no-thanks2012-05-14T23:00:03Z2 years 9 months ago30https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/screening-guests-thanks-but-no-thankshttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1649Security Deposits: You Gotta Know When to Hold ‘Emhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/04/03/security-deposits-you-gotta-know-when-to-hold-em
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:63311c43-792e-41a5-8dbc-7772463c1a6b] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>&#8220;You got to know when to hold &lsquo;em, know when to fold &lsquo;em, <br/> know when to walk away, and know when to RUN!&rdquo;</em></span></p><p align="right" style="margin-right: 1.65in; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Kenny Rogers - The Gambler</em></span></p><p align="right" style="margin-right: 1.65in; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em><br/></em></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">You may be thinking &#8220;What does Kenny know about the Vacation Home Business?&rdquo;&nbsp; Well, maybe not much.&nbsp; But those lyrics above are very appropriate when it comes to dealing with security deposits.&nbsp; Humor me for another 660 words and I&#8217;ll explain.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Why Have Security Deposits?</strong>&nbsp; </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><br/><span style="color: #000000;"> We like security deposits for two reasons:</span></p><ol style="list-style-type: decimal;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">They constitute an agreement between the vacation home owner/operator (O/O) and the guests.</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">They provide a great opportunity to create incremental bookings and maximize ROI. </span></li></ol><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Think of it like this:&nbsp; </span></p><p style="margin-right: 91.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1608-2669/deposit1.jpg"><img alt="deposit1.jpg" class="jive-image" height="60" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1608-2669/56-60/deposit1.jpg" style="float: left;" width="56"/></a></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 91.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">&#8220;Look, I realize unforeseen accidents can happen while you are in my home.&nbsp; In the event that they do, <em>I just want to know you are good for it if it was your fault.</em>&rdquo; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.15in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1608-2670/deposit2.jpg"><img alt="deposit2.jpg" class="jive-image" height="66" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1608-2670/48-66/deposit2.jpg" style="float: left;" width="48"/></a></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-right: 1.15in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">&#8220;If I damage something I&#8217;ll pay for it so I don&#8217;t mind the deposit&hellip;<em>as long as you don&#8217;t look for reasons not to give it back to me</em>.&rdquo;</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Therein lies the problem: how to establish a clear line on when to keep deposit funds or when not to.&nbsp; Ultimately you hold the money so it&#8217;s you that determines the line.&nbsp; We break &lsquo;em into four categories.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Take it away Kenny! </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><strong><em>Know When To Hold &lsquo;em</em></strong> <span style="color: #000000;">&#8211; O/O and guest both agree that deposit money should be kept.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Guest&#8217;s kid climbs the pool umbrella and breaks it.&nbsp; Dad calls, apologies profusely and along with insisting to pay for a new umbrella assures you that his kid &#8220;never acts that way at home.&rdquo; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em>Know When To Fold &lsquo;em</em></strong> &#8211; O/O wants to keep deposit but the guest doesn&#8217;t openly agree.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">This is the biggest opportunity of the four because it will likely have a direct impact on your future business with that guest, specifically their likelihood to:</span></p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li><span style="color: #000000;">Consider your home for their next trip</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Give you a positive review</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000;">Recommend your home to others</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">You may be able to turn these lemons into lemonade if you can find middle ground.&nbsp; Let your guest know the costs you will incur and explain that prior to their check-in the damage did not exist.&nbsp; Ask them what they think should be done about it, and then use that as a starting point to find an agreeable solution for both sides. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">**Possible Best Practice:&nbsp; On two occasions we have offered guests a credit toward their next stay in the amount of the withheld deposit funds.&nbsp; Full disclosure: Neither has taken us up on the offer&hellip;yet.&nbsp; But, we recovered our loss, planted a seed for future business and the conversations ended on a positive note. </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em> </em></strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em>Know When To Walk Away </em></strong>&#8211; Keeping the deposit is expected by the guest, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">but you choose not to keep it</span>.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Here&#8217;s where we can make a customer for life.&nbsp; For three years in a row Rick and Raul have stayed two weeks with us while attending an annual convention.&nbsp; This year one of them accidentally walked through our screen door and destroyed it.&nbsp; At checkout they apologized and asked us to take it out of their security deposit.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Valuing their business we elected to eat the $150 and use the opportunity to tell them just how much we appreciate their business.&nbsp; We jump at every opportunity to show some Love to our high value guests.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em> </em></strong></span>&nbsp;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em>Know When To RUN!</em></strong> &#8211; Flagrant damage happened and the O/O doesn&#8217;t ever want the guest back again.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">This has happened with us three times out of 500+ bookings.&nbsp; Gross negligence resulting in excessive damage to our home gave us no option but to withhold deposit funds.&nbsp; As Lovingly as possible we informed our guests that there was substantial damage at checkout and provided an itemized detail of the expenses incurred, including our time to repair them.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">**Best Practice:&nbsp; The Loving approach meant we recovered our loss AND avoided a nasty guest review.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; How we handle deposits when damage occurs in our homes provides us with an opportunity for incremental business in the form </span>of <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">Repeat Business</a><span style="color: #000000;">, Strong Guest Reviews (our next topic) and</span> <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1516" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals">Referrals</a><span style="color: #000000;">.&nbsp; If we can utilize the <strong>Fold &lsquo;em</strong> or <strong>Walk Away</strong> approach effectively we turn a negative experience into a positive experience, all but obligating our guests to reward us with more business.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Here&#8217;s to customers who take care of our homes and won&#8217;t stay anywhere else!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="color: #000000;">Michael</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody></tbody></table></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:63311c43-792e-41a5-8dbc-7772463c1a6b] -->advertisingvrbohomeawaysecurity_depositsdepositsvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingmarketing_techniquesadvertising_your_rentalbookingsblogadvertising_your_listinginteracting_with_guestssecurity_deposit_refundmichael_smithreferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roirepeat_rentersTue, 03 Apr 2012 14:51:03 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/04/03/security-deposits-you-gotta-know-when-to-hold-em2012-04-03T14:51:03Z2 years 10 months ago10https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/security-deposits-you-gotta-know-when-to-hold-emhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1608The Little Things Can Make a BIG Difference!https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/03/05/the-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:56a45a53-25f9-424b-ac2c-2e25f14f8fdd] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The Little Things Can Make a BIG Difference!</strong></span></p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;"><em>&#8220;The drain in the bathtub was clogged.&nbsp; And the toilet made noise all night.&nbsp; And three light bulbs were out.&nbsp; And we could have used some Scotch tape.&nbsp; But other than that, it was a great NY apartment.&rdquo;</em></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1588-2414/pic+1.bmp"><img alt="pic 1.bmp" class="jive-image" height="139" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1588-2414/pic+1.bmp" style="float: left;" width="224"/></a>That is my feedback about the trip Angela and I recently took to New York where we stayed in an apartment we found on VRBO.&nbsp; As a vacation home owner, maybe I&#8217;m more critical.&nbsp; But nonetheless, that&#8217;s my honest response about the $625/night (peak) apartment we stayed in.&nbsp; We didn&#8217;t pay near that, but will we stay there again?&nbsp; Maybe.&nbsp; Or maybe we&#8217;ll explore other options first.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">How many &#8220;maybes&rdquo; are your guests <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>telling everyone but you</em></span> because of neglected little things that require more thoughtfulness to fix than time or money?&nbsp; What is your system for making sure the little things don&#8217;t give your guests the wrong memories (as in, not <span style="color: #0070c0; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">DELIGHTFUL</a></span>).</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Below are some easy ways to manage the little things:</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>1. </strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stay a While</strong></span> &#8211; We make it a point to stay in each of our homes at least once a year for at least three days, more often when we can manage. <a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1588-2415/pic+2.bmp"><img alt="pic 2.bmp" class="jive-image" height="118" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1588-2415/pic+2.bmp" style="float: right;" width="75"/></a> There are little things that our guests simply won&#8217;t take the time to point out. A good way to identify that the guest bathroom has a slow drip or the master bedroom door is difficult to shut is to experience those things yourself.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; Invite friends to stay with you and ask them to be on the lookout for anything that might need attention.&nbsp; This is a great way to spend quality time with Loved ones, enjoy your vacation home, and get a fresh set of eyes and expectations that will make your home better.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. </strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Check It Off the List</strong></span> &#8211; We have checklists for our PM&#8217;s that break out the little things. <br/> Some items on our lists include:</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="jiveNoBorder" height="180" style="border: 0px solid #000000; width: 625px;"><thead><tr><th align="center" style="border:0px solid black;border: 0px solid #000000;text-align: left;background-color: #6690bc;" valign="middle"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Every Checkout</strong></span></th><th align="center" style="border:0px solid black;border: 0px solid #000000;text-align: left;background-color: #6690bc;" valign="middle"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Check Regularly and Replace As Needed</strong></span></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="border:0px solid black;border: 0px solid #000000;"><ul><li>Tubs, Toilets, Sinks Drain Properly</li><li>Welcome Basket Snacks &amp; Drinks</li><li>Billiard Chalk, Ping-Pong Balls, Dart Tips</li><li>All Light Bulbs, Spares Available</li><li>All Spa Jets are Working</li><li>Outdoor Stereo is Working</li><li>Electronics Remotes in Place</li></ul></td><td style="border:0px solid black;border: 0px solid #000000;"><ul><li>Flower Beds Refreshed</li><li>Dead Palm Leaves Removed</li><li>Central Air Filters Changed</li><li>Pool Toys, Rafts, Arm Floaties</li><li>Board Game Pieces, 52 Cards in Decks</li><li>Pens, Batteries, Tape, Notepads</li><li>Dishes, Tableware, Placemats</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; <strong>For a FREE copy of our PM checklist, email <a class="jive-link-email-small" href="mailto:michael@uscvh.com?subject=I%20would%20like%20a%20copy%20of%20your%20checklist">Michael@USCVH.com</a>.</strong> </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>3. </strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Help Them Help You </strong></span>&#8211; Make it as easy for your guests to communicate little things that need attention. We call them &#8220;Uh Ohs&rdquo; and &#8220;Oh Wells.&rdquo; If they say &#8220;Uh Oh&hellip;&rdquo; about something during their stay we ask them to let us know about it right away so we can try to fix it for them during their stay.&nbsp; If they say &#8220;Oh Well&rdquo; then we ask them to let us know at check-out so we can fix it for their <em>next</em> stay.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-left: .25in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: .25in;">*Best Practice &#8211; Three easy ways to gather feedback:</p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><ul><ul><li>At check-in encourage them to reach out for any little thing - email and text messaging work great for this.</li><li>Hang a little dry erase board on the fridge with a note asking for the &#8220;Oh Wells.&rdquo;</li><li>In your follow-up Thank You email/card ask them if there was anything that could have been improved upon for their next stay in your home (See my blog post on <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1516" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals">Soliciting Referrals</a>).</li></ul></ul></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Minding the little things is a great way to maximize revenue through repeat business and referrals, and most little things are inexpensive and easy to manage.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">We all spend a great deal of time providing outstanding accommodations to our guests so they will rave about us to anyone who will listen.&nbsp; If we don&#8217;t manage the little things that can detract from their stay we undermine our efforts and hurt our future business. Standing in shin high water during showers or having to go out and buy a new light bulbs can be the difference between &#8220;It was AWESOME!&rdquo; and &#8220;It was alright but&hellip;&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">So here&#8217;s to doing the little things that make a big difference!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:56a45a53-25f9-424b-ac2c-2e25f14f8fdd] -->advertisingvrboamenitieshomeawayvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingmarketing_techniquesadvertising_your_rentalbookingsfurnishing_and_maintenancemichael_smithrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roireturn_renterschecklistguest_reviewsguest_feedbackdownload_cleaning_checklistinteracting_with_guestscheck_out_policydiscountreferralrepeat_rentersguest_relationsMon, 05 Mar 2012 23:11:01 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/03/05/the-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference2012-03-05T23:11:01Z2 years 9 months ago50https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/the-little-things-can-make-a-big-differencehttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1588It’s OUR Selling Season: Inquiries, Inquiries Everywhere!https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/01/26/it-s-our-selling-season-inquiries-inquiries-everywhere
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:1a88e826-0039-457d-bfa5-2193a3b26216] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ahhh&hellip;&hellip;at last&hellip;.January is finally here.&nbsp; Isn&#8217;t it true that as vacation home owners we count down the days until January?&nbsp; Just as retailers eagerly wait for the holiday selling season, vacation home owners eagerly await the flood of inquiries that follow the holiday season. </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The most successful retailers plan for their selling season because they know if they are on their A-game during those 30-45 days it can be the difference between a good year and a great year.&nbsp; Are you and your vacation home business on your A-game during <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>our</em></span> prime selling season?&nbsp; </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Below are some ideas to help you make the most of OUR Selling Season in 2012.&nbsp; These may be refreshers, but no need to reinvent the wheel.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Respond Promptly</span></strong> &#8211; This is nothing new.&nbsp; Our friends at HomeAway preach this constantly, but only because it works. HomeAway studies consistently show a direct correlation between response time and likelihood for the inquiry to book.&nbsp; If you can&#8217;t always respond immediately, set up an auto-response with some detailed information that an inquirer might find useful and tell them when you will be getting back to them.&nbsp; The longer you wait, the longer someone else has to take your booking.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;" style="text-indent: -4.5pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; If you are away from your calendar and receive a call or email notification, answer it to let them know you have received their inquiry and you aren&#8217;t at your calendar.&nbsp; Then set the expectation that you will be getting back to them by a specific time and follow up.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Get On the Phone</span></strong> - This is one that Angela and I often struggle to find time for, but it works and we are always more successful when we&nbsp;&nbsp; can manage to do it.&nbsp; We have found that most inquirers appreciate talking to a live person and it&#8217;s easier for you to establish common ground with them over the phone than over email.&nbsp; If you aren&#8217;t comfortable responding with a call to an initial inquiry, or if they don&#8217;t leave a phone number, then give them yours in your email response and <em>encourage</em> them to call you.&nbsp; Like it or not, if you are responding to inquiries you are in sales, and it is usually easier to &#8220;close the deal&rdquo; over the phone than over email.&nbsp; </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;" style="text-indent: -4.5pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; Offer to help them &#8220;plan their trip&rdquo; by asking what they are most looking forward to doing while they are in your area, then offer suggestions related to their response. </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Follow Up</span> </strong>&#8211; After you have answered all their questions over the phone, follow the conversation up with an email that states:</span></p><ul><li><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The 3 main selling points of your property &#8211; remind them why they should book with you.</span></li><li><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Rate quote for the dates, number of guests and total costs you discussed.</span></li><li><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That you book on a first come, first served basis.</span></li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;" style="text-indent: -4.5pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; Don&#8217;t come across as pushy, rather as concerned that their ideal home (yours) might book if they wait too much longer so let&#8217;s figure out what it will take to get them to book now.&nbsp; Are they asking for a <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1337" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/05/03/are-you-losing-money-because-of-discounts"><span _mce_style="color: blue;" style="color: blue;">DISCOUNT</span></a>? </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: auto;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Keep It Fresh</span></strong> &#8211; Be sure to keep your headline, rates, photos and calendar updated on a regular basis. Resist the temptation to keep your calendar blank and not post your rates.&nbsp; After experimenting with this concept over the last 5 years in this business we can say with confidence that travelers want to see calendars and rates, and most will inquire first on those properties they know are available within their timeframe and their budget.&nbsp; </span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-left: .5in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;" style="text-indent: -4.5pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Best Practice &#8211; Differentiate your listing headline to stand out from the crowd. Call out specific date ranges you need to book or include a special offer for your two slowest months.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Practically every booking begins with an <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1516" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals"><span _mce_style="color: blue;" style="color: blue;">inquiry</span></a> so we ought to treat our inquiries, each one of them, as if our business depends on them.&nbsp; Because you know what?&nbsp; Our business <span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">does</span> depend on them.&nbsp; One of the best ways we can maximize ROI is to create more opportunities to turn inquiries into bookings.&nbsp; By responding promptly and professionally, following up and keeping our listings fresh we increase our opportunities and our occupancy, and maximize our revenue!</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Happy New Year to all of you, Angela and I pray that 2012 is full of Love, peace and prosperity for us all. Now get back to those inquiries and BOOK! BOOK!! BOOK!!!</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Cheers!</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p _mce_style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: .0001pt;" style="margin-top: auto; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span _mce_style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Michael</span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:1a88e826-0039-457d-bfa5-2193a3b26216] -->advertisinghomeawayvacation_rentalhomeaway_vacation_rentalsbookingadvertising_your_rentalbookingsadvertising_your_listingmanaging_inquiriesvacation_rental_insightsvacation_rental_ownersmaximizingmichael_smithrevenuemaximizing_roipeak_seasondiscountingoffering_discountsrespond_to_inquirieslistinginquiriesinquirylisting_headlineFri, 27 Jan 2012 00:58:26 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2012/01/26/it-s-our-selling-season-inquiries-inquiries-everywhere2012-01-27T00:58:26Z2 years 12 months ago0https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/it-s-our-selling-season-inquiries-inquiries-everywherehttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1563Maximize Your ROI by Effectively Soliciting Referralshttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:29c3748e-94d3-4f84-b7f8-09f280097852] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">How many of your bookings in 2011 have been from referrals?&nbsp; Or more to the point, how much of your revenue in 2011 is from referrals?&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Are you content with your answer to these questions?&nbsp; Wouldn&#8217;t it be nice to have one or two more referrals each year?&nbsp; In this blog we&#8217;re going to look at five ideas that, when used together effectively, will help to drive incremental bookings through referrals.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ol><li> <strong>Be Worthy of a Remark</strong> &#8211; The best form of advertising for any business is a customer testimonial via word of mouth.&nbsp; Give your guests a reason to tell anyone who will listen about their time in your home. Whether it&#8217;s your attention to detail, your amazing collection of board games or your 120&rdquo; home theater screen, give them something to be excited to tell others about.</li><li><strong>Get &#8220;Real&rdquo; Business Cards</strong> &#8211; Invest a little money and have some professional business cards on heavy stock printed up (rather than the cheap looking &#8220;print at home&rdquo; variety). Business cards are often the first impression someone gets when hearing of your business.&nbsp; Include your HomeAway.com and VRBO.com listing numbers along with a one-liner or a few key words that articulate the reason why someone should consider calling you for their next vacation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </li><li><strong>Implement a Guest Referral Program</strong> &#8211; Give your guests and others who know about your business a reason to refer people to stay with you.&nbsp; Money is always a great motivator, it&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve used for several years now.&nbsp; We pay $15/night to any person who refers a booking to us, that&#8217;s over a hundred bucks for a week long booking.&nbsp; Cash is a good reminder and incentive for someone to mention your business.</li><li><strong><em>Ask</em> for Referrals</strong> &#8211; Without being pushy, ask your guests and those acquainted with your business to refer anyone who they think may be interested in staying with you.&nbsp; With our business we do this a couple different ways.&nbsp; First, in each of our homes we have placed an 8.5 x 11&rdquo; acrylic stand with a full color flyer in it that talks up our referral program and encourages our guests to take several cards to hand out when they are back home. The acrylic stand has a built-in business card holder and our property managers make sure they are always full. Second, in both the checkout email and in the handwritten &#8220;Thank You&rdquo; cards (remark worthy) our guests receive we remind them that we have a referral program and point out that if they enjoyed their time in our home the best compliment they can give us is to refer us to a Loved one.</li><li><strong>Stick with the Plan</strong> - Given the nature of our business, long sales cycles and relatively few annual transactions, referrals can be few and far between.&nbsp; But, that makes each referral even more valuable to business such as ours.&nbsp; Angela and I diligently performed the actions above for nearly a year before we actually booked our first referral.&nbsp; Yes, we frequently discussed whether it was worth the extra effort, but that first referral payment we made for $105 on a 7-night booking that was clearly incremental (and off-peak!) made it all worth it.&nbsp; You are planting seeds that may or may not bear fruit down the road, but at least you are giving them a chance to bear fruit if you keep planting.&nbsp;&nbsp; </li></ol><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Referrals are one of those areas of business that can seem easier said than done.&nbsp; But each referral is an incremental booking, which can be the difference between a good month and a great month.&nbsp; Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising for any business.&nbsp; Giving your guests a reason to tell others about their experience in your home, and making it easy for them to do so, is an effective and inexpensive way to maximize your revenue. If you will give them an experience that is worthy of a remark, and if you make it easy for them to refer you to others, your bottom line will reflect your efforts.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Here&#8217;s to bigger bottom lines&hellip;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;">Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:29c3748e-94d3-4f84-b7f8-09f280097852] -->advertisingratesproperty_managersvacation_rentalnew_to_rentingmarketing_techniquesblogroiinteracting_with_guestsmaximizingmichael_smithrevenuereferralsrepeat_guestsmaximizing_roiprofessional_managergoalsadvertising_your_rental;repeat_rentersreturn_guestsreturn_rentersThu, 17 Nov 2011 23:27:08 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/11/17/solicit-referrals2011-11-17T23:27:08Z3 years 3 months ago20https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/solicit-referralshttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1516Maximize Your Revenue: Give Your Home Away for Free!https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/08/31/maximize-your-revenue-give-your-home-away-for-free
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:f59e910b-7510-4c38-af49-8ea53cb5c522] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p><span style="color: #333333;">As business owners we are all driven to find new and creative ways to make more cabbage.&nbsp; (Cabbage is a technical term for revenue.)&nbsp; I&#8217;ve got a crazy one for you; let people stay in your home for FREE! According to a recent survey from HomeAway, more than half of owners have donated or considered giving their home away for free to a charity.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Donating nights in our vacation homes at little or no cost to guests has led to:</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">Priceless endorsements and some of our most fantastic guestbook comments</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">Goodwill and publicity for our business that would have otherwise been unattainable</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">Exposure to paying customers who may not have otherwise known about us</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">The fulfillment and joy of using our business to Love guests who needed to be Loved</span></li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">&#8220;But how will letting people stay for free increase my cabbage,&rdquo; you may be wondering?&nbsp; Good question.&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Have you ever been WOW&#8217;d by a business? WOW&#8217;d in such a way that you not only couldn&#8217;t keep yourself from telling people about your great experience, but you almost felt obligated to bring that business new customers?&nbsp; Wouldn&#8217;t it be a tremendous WOW to let someone, particularly someone in need, stay in your home at little or no cost to them? </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Consider what your reaction would be if someone offered you time in a vacation home, one just like yours, to you and your family for nothing in return.&nbsp; Take it a step further and suppose you were in some type of need, say on an unplanned last-minute trip, maybe visiting a Loved one because of a medical emergency.&nbsp; Would you become an advocate of your generous host?&nbsp; How far out of your way would you go to &#8220;repay&rdquo; their Loving act?&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">This was the case for one of our donations when our guest wrote my wife, Angela, and said,</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;"><em>&#8220;Oh Angela!&nbsp; I cannot begin to express my appreciation.&nbsp; It was so perfect!&nbsp; And your home made it possible for this to be such a lasting, awesome memory for me&hellip;and hopefully my kids.&nbsp; I wanted you to know that we had an awesome time and how forever grateful I will be.&nbsp; And I will tell everyone I know about your place.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve already posted on my Facebook about your home [and] a small video clip of my favorite moments of the whole trip.&nbsp; Thanks again and God Bless you and your beautiful family!&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp; </em></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Angela and I believe that if we keep our primary focus on Lovingly hosting as many guests as possible, even if some of them aren&#8217;t paying us, the seeds we&#8217;re planting will continue to grow and bear good fruit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">The steps to driving your occupancy and your revenue up by donating your home are pretty straightforward.</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">Decide if you are willing to donate nights in your home and what it should look like for you.&nbsp; </span><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">Consider your cleaning costs, property manager (PM) costs and security deposits.&nbsp; We charged the guest above only for our cleaning costs, our PM was happy to donate her time as well.</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;"><a class="jive-link-wiki-small" data-containerId="2096" data-containerType="14" data-objectId="1741" data-objectType="102" href="https://community.homeaway.com/docs/DOC-1741">Read Pros and Cons of Donating a Stay at Your Vacation Home</a>, consider any tax implic</span><span style="color: #333333;">ations.</span></li></ul></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">Decide which dates or times of year would be most ideal for you to offer your home for free.</span><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">You can give away time all year or aim for a time that may likely go unoccupied anyway.</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">The further out you can set aside dates the more successful you&#8217;ll be at donating them.</span></li></ul></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">Spread the word and be on the lookout for donation opportunities, find a cause to support.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">Reach out to church groups, children&#8217;s charities or military veteran&#8217;s associations.</span><ul><li><span style="color: #333333;">We are registered with <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://www.vacationsforveterans.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vacationsforveterans.org</a>, but there are others out there too like <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://usa.operationrandr.org/page.cfm?pageid=6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Operation R&amp;R</a>. </span></li></ul></li><li><span style="color: #333333;">Google search &#8220;donate a vacation home&rdquo; to explore resources that can help you connect with charities if you are unable to fill a direct need on your own.</span><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1433-1601/Screen+shot+2011-08-31+at+8.22.06+AM.png"><img alt="Screen shot 2011-08-31 at 8.22.06 AM.png" class="jive-image jive-image-thumbnail" height="258" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1433-1601/441-258/Screen+shot+2011-08-31+at+8.22.06+AM.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="441"/></a></li></ul></li></ul><p><span style="color: #333333;"><br/></span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong>:&nbsp; Donating nights in your vacation home will create goodwill and awareness of your business while endearing you to particular groups of people.&nbsp; Donations will lead to fantastic guestbook comments, enthusiastic guest referrals, and perhaps most importantly, give you the opportunity to bless others tremendously in the name of Love.&nbsp; Using your vacation home business in this way will also increase the joy and contentment you derive from being in one of the most rewarding businesses in the world&hellip;and it might even lead to additional bookings.</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">So here&#8217;s to converting your Love into new cabbage!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Cheers!</span></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: #333333;">Michael</span></p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:f59e910b-7510-4c38-af49-8ea53cb5c522] -->advertisingvacation_rentalmaximizingmichael_smithloverevenuemaximizing_roiadvertising_your_rental;charity;donation;operationr&r;vacations_for_veteransWed, 31 Aug 2011 13:31:00 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/08/31/maximize-your-revenue-give-your-home-away-for-free2011-08-31T13:31:00Z3 years 6 months ago40https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/maximize-your-revenue-give-your-home-away-for-freehttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1433Setting Goals and Measuring Your Success Using Key Performance Indicatorshttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/07/29/setting-goals-and-measuring-your-success-using-key-performance-indicators
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:f6c92de0-3038-42ae-87b7-1e32aadd721a] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1389-1499/KPI+1.bmp"><img alt="KPI 1.bmp" class="jive-image" height="121" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1389-1499/185-121/KPI+1.bmp" style="float: left;" width="185"/></a></p><p>There are many ways to measure the success of a vacation home rental business.&nbsp; How do you measure yours?&nbsp; Are you hitting the goals you&#8217;ve set for yourself?&nbsp; Or more importantly, do you even have goals for your vacation rental business beyond &#8220;to cover our mortgage&rdquo; or &#8220;make a profit?&rdquo;</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p> In this blog we&#8217;re going to look at a few different ways to set goals for your vacation rental business in order to track your success.&nbsp; Some of them can be tied directly to your profits and losses, while others may not directly impact your bottom line, but are good indicators for success, nonetheless.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p> To start off, it&#8217;s a good idea for any business owner to establish goals.&nbsp; As a general practice, I like to use the old business adage that every goal should be S.M.A.R.T.&nbsp; (For more information on S.M.A.R.T. goals visit <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria</a>)</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>For example, let&#8217;s suppose one of our goals is to increase our revenue from $65,000 to $77,000 the following year.&nbsp; Here&#8217;s how we make it S.M.A.R.T.: </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>S</strong> &#8211; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Specific</span>:&nbsp; Increase revenue <span style="text-decoration: underline;">by $12,000</span> to $77,000 in the calendar year 2011. </li><li> <strong>M </strong>&#8211; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Measurable</span>:&nbsp; If our annual revenue <span style="text-decoration: underline;">reaches $77,000</span> at year end, we will have been successful. </li><li><strong>A</strong> &#8211; <span style="text-decoration: underline;"> Ambitious:</span>&nbsp; The goal represents your very best effort or <span style="text-decoration: underline;">maximum output</span>.&nbsp; </li><li><strong>R</strong> &#8211; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Realistic</span>:&nbsp; Considering vacancy rates (in this case) a $1,000/month increase in revenue <span style="text-decoration: underline;">is achievable.</span> </li><li><strong>T</strong> &#8211; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Time Bound:</span>&nbsp; We are using the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">2011 calendar year</span> as our time constraint. </li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Other examples of S.M.A.R.T goals may be that your vacation home <em>does not sit vacant more than 5 nights in any calendar month</em>, or that your <em>non-rental revenue in the year 2012 exceeds $5,000</em>. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>This may seem like a simple exercise but you&#8217;d be surprised how easy it is to set a goal that doesn&#8217;t line up with the S.M.A.R.T. principles.&nbsp; Using this approach to set appropriate goals for your vacation rental business will help ensure your goals are driving your business towards increased profits. </p><p><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1389-1500/KPI+2.bmp"><img alt="KPI 2.bmp" class="jive-image" height="185" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1389-1500/KPI+2.bmp" style="float: right;" width="272"/></a></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Equally as important as the goals you set are the metrics you employ to track your progress. Many businesses refer to their primary metrics as Key Performance Indicators, or KPI&#8217;s.&nbsp; My wife, Angela, and I established our KPI&#8217;s early on in our vacation rental business and have stuck with them ever since.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>We set our goals using the following KPI&#8217;s: </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Rental Revenue &#8211; includes regular nightly revenue and fees for additional guests </li><li>Non-Rental Revenue &#8211; includes cleaning and pool heating fees, underwater camera and video game console rentals, and commissions from attraction ticket sales </li><li>Booked/Occupied Nights&#8211; the total number of nights in a year our home is occupied&nbsp; including:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>Personal Use &#8211; nights we stay in the home for our own use </li><li>Donations &#8211; nights we are able to give away with little or no revenue in return </li><li>iTravex Exchange &#8211; nights we&#8217;ve taken in trade using iTravex.com&nbsp; </li></ul></li><li>Vacant Nights&nbsp; &#8211; missed opportunities during the year when our home has sat empty </li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>We have kept track of these KPI&#8217;s by month and by house for more than four years.&nbsp; The historical data has proven to be invaluable to us in terms of understanding and managing our business while maximizing our ROI.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>I spend 30-45 minutes each month putting the KPI information we gather into a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that allows us to monitor the progress of our business over time.&nbsp; If you have not been tracking this information, I recommend taking the time to go through past bookings to compile whatever data you can to give yourself a benchmark. Then going forward you&#8217;d only need to maintain the spreadsheet moving forward.&nbsp; To me, this is definitely time well spent.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>With this information readily available, you can make more informed decisions on: </p><ul><li>Which reservations to take when check-in and check-out dates conflict </li><li>Which bookings <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1337" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/05/03/are-you-losing-money-because-of-discounts">to discount</a></li><li>When to run special offers or featured listings </li><li>When to take trades </li><li>Which nights are available for donations </li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><em>Donations have become an increasingly more important KPI for us in our vacation home rental business.&nbsp; In our next blog we will explore several ways to grow your vacation home business, (and your heart) by donating time in your vacation home.&nbsp; </em></p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>The Bottom Line:&nbsp; </strong>Proper goal setting and tracking of KPI&#8217;s is an integral part of maximizing the ROI of any business.&nbsp; A business running without goals or established metrics to track the progress towards attaining those goals is analogous to a ship at sea without a rudder or a compass.&nbsp; The time you spend setting goals and tracking your progress will help you run your business more efficiently and profitably while paying dividends in the long run. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>If you have success stories related to goals you&#8217;ve set for your business please share them in a comment below.&nbsp; Until then, here&#8217;s to knowing where we&#8217;re headed and how we&#8217;re going to get there!&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p> Cheers! </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:f6c92de0-3038-42ae-87b7-1e32aadd721a] -->vacation_rentalblogroimichael_smithgoalsmeasurmentFri, 29 Jul 2011 22:47:38 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/07/29/setting-goals-and-measuring-your-success-using-key-performance-indicators2011-07-29T22:47:38Z3 years 7 months ago0https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/setting-goals-and-measuring-your-success-using-key-performance-indicatorshttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=13897 Helpful Tips for Managing from Afarhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/29/7-helpful-tips-for-managing-from-afar
<!-- [DocumentBodyStart:03935350-5f8a-420c-ab06-90e4656b7ab5] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><p>Some vacation rental homes are right next door to their owners; others are across town or possibly across the country or the world.&nbsp; Ours happens to be 1,353 miles door-to-door.&nbsp; The ideas below have helped us overcome the distance so the miles have no impact on our business.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>For those who manage their own properties on-site there are some nuggets below that you may find useful.&nbsp; For the rest of us who are not close enough to be on-site at our properties full-time, let&#8217;s start with our first and most important tip for managing from afar.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-1366-1426/Screen+shot+2011-06-29+at+11.51.41+AM.png"><img alt="Screen shot 2011-06-29 at 11.51.41 AM.png" class="jive-image jive-image-thumbnail" height="224" src="https://community.homeaway.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1366-1426/340-224/Screen+shot+2011-06-29+at+11.51.41+AM.png" style="float: right;" width="340"/></a></p><p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Hire a Property Manager you can trust. </strong> Find someone who will look after your house like it&#8217;s their own. Personally, we manage the rentals with two wonderful property managers who are both homemakers and empty nesters, happy to apply their skills to delight our guests.&nbsp; At $30-35/hour they are each a key ingredient to providing a memorable experience for travelers; and they are worth every penny. Depending on your level of involvement and the time you have to manage the manager, you can either hire a property management company or contract out the work to an individual. </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong> Make your guests&#8217; needs just a phone call away.</strong>&nbsp; Ensure someone is always available to your guests via phone whether it&#8217;s you or your PM, or ideally both.&nbsp; People always appreciate getting through on the first try and they will tell others how easy you are to work with.&nbsp; We had recent guests commenting on how a quick response &#8220;made them Love us and the house even more!&rdquo;&nbsp; Problems + Responsiveness = Even MORE Love?&nbsp; How cool is that?&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Establish a strong support network.</strong>&nbsp; Identify people you can rely on for maintenance appointments, and identify backups where appropriate, from the trades you deal with regularly:</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Cleaning Service</li><li>Handyman</li><li>Groundskeeper or Landscaper</li><li>Pool Technician </li><li>Laundry Service</li><li>Plumber</li><li>Heating/AC Repair</li><li>Electrician&nbsp;&nbsp; </li></ul><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>When selecting your vendor partners ask questions specific to your business situation like:</p><p>&#8226;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; How quickly can you respond to my home when I call?&nbsp; </p><p>&#8226;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What are availability and rates during non-business hours?</p><p>&#8226;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Can you contract as a commercial account for priority response times or reduced rates?</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Utilize picture messaging. </strong> See what you otherwise couldn&#8217;t.&nbsp; Nearly everyone carries a phone capable of sending photos. If you are dealing with your PM or a vendor and think to yourself that you wish you could see what they&#8217;re talking about, ask them to send you some photos on the spot.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Visit your home as a guest. </strong> The best way to identify opportunities to <a class="jive-link-blog-small" data-containerId="1319" data-containerType="37" data-objectId="1356" data-objectType="38" href="https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/06/delightful-memories-repeat-guests-referrals">create delightful memories</a> or potential guest frustrations is to experience your home as a guest.&nbsp; Pay your PM to set the home as usual so you can know first-hand the experience your guests are having when they arrive.&nbsp; Our guests have appreciated the guestbook entries we leave from our visits mentioning the improvements we made to the home or new places we discovered in the area.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Love thy neighbors. </strong> Make it a point to personally meet all neighbors who might have interest in knowing you are running a vacation home.&nbsp; Give them your personal contact info and reassure them that you set clear expectations with each of your guests about noise and disturbances.&nbsp; Ask them to call you first for any reason regarding your home, and store the number they will call from in your phone so you can pick up immediately if they should call.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Give them a personal touch.</strong>&nbsp; Allow your guests to make a personal connection with you.&nbsp; We often ask our PM&#8217;s to leave fresh flowers or tasty treats along with a card signed from &#8220;Angela and Michael&rdquo; for groups at check-in.&nbsp; I know some other owners have had the inverse experience, but several of our guests have also commented that the family photo we leave in the home made them feel welcome, as if staying with extended family.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p><strong>The Bottom Line: </strong> The distance between you and your vacation home doesn&#8217;t have to interfere with your ability to create exceptional guest experiences.&nbsp; A property manager you can trust, a support network of people who understand the needs of your business and some creative thinking will pay dividends when managing your vacation home from afar.&nbsp; </p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Plus&hellip;the tactics above can make adding your next vacation home that much easier.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>We would all value YOUR thoughts and ideas on managing from afar, feel free to share them below.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Cheers!</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p>Michael</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:03935350-5f8a-420c-ab06-90e4656b7ab5] -->property_managersprofessional_managermanaging_from_afarseven_tipsWed, 29 Jun 2011 16:53:25 GMTcommunity-no-reply@jive.homeaway.comhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/2011/06/29/7-helpful-tips-for-managing-from-afar2011-06-29T16:53:25Z3 years 8 months ago80https://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/comment/7-helpful-tips-for-managing-from-afarhttps://community.homeaway.com/blogs/novacancy/feeds/comments?blogPost=1366